You'll recall that Steve was tossed out of Apple on his ear, replaced by "professional" managers who only managed to nearly tank Apple Computer. Invited back into the company as an advisor in 1996, he became CEO shortly thereafter, working for $1 per year then and now.

By innovating without pause, Jobs has been good for Apple and great for the personal computer, information and entertainment industries.

Commentators often compare Apple to Microsoft, too often with disdain.

Times change, though our perspectives often lag. Here's one comparison that's right up to the minute.Jobs has made mistakes, scores of them, but on balance his hits have been big.